Container Carrier News

Container shipping group Maersk said on Wednesday it is redistributing fuel to ensure supplies for its vessels as the Iran war disrupts the flow and storage of maritime fuel in the Middle East.The Danish carrier, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, has 10 ships stranded in the Gulf. U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have fueled hostilities that threaten one-fifth of the world's oil, which sails out of the region via the Strait of Hormuz - the globe's most important…

The container shipping sector continued its gradual normalization in 2025, and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’ latest financial results offer a clear snapshot of the industry’s transition away from the extraordinary profits generated during the pandemic-era freight surge.For the full year 2025, the Israeli liner carrier reported revenue of $6.9 billion, down from $8.4 billion in 2024 as freight rates softened across major trade lanes. Net income reached $481 million, a sharp decline from $2.15 billion the previous year…

Container ships account for roughly 100 of the 750 ships ensnared in the Strait of Hormuz backups following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, Jeremy Nixon, CEO of container carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE), said on Monday."About 10% of the container ship global fleet is caught up in this," Nixon said at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s TPM26 container shipping conference in Long Beach.Maritime insurers ceased covering voyages through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, as Iran retaliated against U.S.

The U.S. and China on Tuesday began charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.A return to an all-out trade war appeared imminent last week, after China announced a major expansion of its rare earths export controls and President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to triple digits.But after the weekend…

The U.S. on Tuesday rejected the "Net-Zero Framework" proposal by the IMO, which is aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping sector, and threatened measures against countries that support it.The announcement, made in a joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, comes ahead of a vote at the United Nations' shipping agency to…

For more than 120 years, Tsuneishi Shipbuilding has been a force in global shipbuilding, evolving from a small domestic enterprise into an internationally respected brand. Established in 1903 by Katsutaro Kambara, Tsuneishi's journey mirrors the broader industrial and economic transformations of Japan and the maritime world itself.Kambara's initial venture, Kambara Kisen Co., Ltd., was focused on shipping operations. By 1917, the company established its own construction and repair facility, Shiohama Dockyard, at the site of today's Tsuneishi Factory.

Major container shipping companies are suspending at least six scheduled weekly routes between China and the United States as President Donald Trump's punishing tariffs on the world's top exporting country collapse trade, maritime consultants said.The ships on those routes have the combined capacity to deliver 25,682 40-foot containers stuffed with toys, tennis shoes, car parts and things U.S. manufacturers use to produce goods each week - or more than 1.3 million 40-foot containers a year…

Maersk said on Tuesday it had maintained all its scheduled trans-Pacific sailings to date, albeit downsising some vessels, despite the uncertainty caused by U.S. import tariffs and the trade war between the United States and China.German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd last week said that its customers had cancelled 30% of shipments to the United States from China, spooked by the trade conflict between the world's two largest economies.Maersk said its customers with shipments out…

Maritime consultancy Drewry said on Thursday that it expects global container port volume to fall 1% as a direct result of U.S. trade policies.That would be the third drop in global container shipping demand since London-based Drewry began recording that data in 1979. Container volumes fell 8.4% during the global financial crisis in 2009 and 0.9% in 2020 when the COVID pandemic was declared.The Trump administration's new policy includes blanket tariffs of 10% on goods from most countries and 145% ones on products from China. China and other countries have hit back with tariffs on U.S.

Japan's Tsuneishi Shipbuilding said the Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc. - its shipbuidling factory in China -  has completed the first block loading for its first Methanol-Fueled 5,900-TEU Type Container Carrier earlier this month.The 5,900-EU type container carrier is the largest container carrier built by Tsuneishi Shipbuidling Group. This vessel has a maximum capacity of 5,915 20-foot-equivalent-unit containers in the hold and on deck, and up to 1,400 reefer containers can also be loaded in response to increased demand in recent years.

The United States is preparing to impose docking fees at its ports on any ship belonging to a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels, according to a draft executive order, a move aimed to both revitalize U.S. shipbuilding while countering China’s dominance in global shipping and shipbuilding.The draft order from President Donald Trump also urges allied nations to adopt similar policies or risk facing retaliatory measures from the U.S.China’s growing control over the maritime industry has become a rare bipartisan concern in the U.S.…

The union representing 45,000 dock workers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and their employers on Wednesday said they reached a tentative deal on a new six-year contract, averting further strikes that could have snarled supply chains and taken a toll on the U.S. economy.The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group, in a joint statement, called the agreement a "win-win." The deal includes a resolution in automation…

Contract talks covering 45,000 dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are set to restart on Tuesday in a labor dispute that will help set the pace of automation at ports stretching from Maine to Texas.The International Longshoremen's Association wants to eliminate past labor contract concessions on automation - notably the use of semi-automated cranes that stack containers on docks - arguing they pose a threat to jobs.The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group…

A threatened Oct. 1 strike by dockworkers at ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico would immediately disrupt the flow of goods in the country, the North America chief executive of French container carrier CMA CGM said on Wednesday.The International Longshoremen's Association union represents 45,000 workers at 36 ports including New York/New Jersey, Houston and Savannah, Georgia. The union has vowed to stop work if it does not have a new labor agreement in place when the current six-year contract expires on Sept.

Imports of U.S. container cargo in August jumped 12.9% from a year ago as a summer volume surge delayed cargo at major ports and anxiety builds over a threatened longshore worker strike on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico on Oct. 1, trade data provider Descartes Systems Group said on Tuesday.U.S. seaports processed almost 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units in August. That was 3% less than in July, when imports hit a 26-month high. Volume above 2.4 million TEU created bottlenecks and cargo backups in the early days of the pandemic…

A new partnership between container carrier Hapag-Lloyd and tech company ZeroNorth will aim to develop and launch a new bunker procurement and planning solution for the maritime industry.The partners said on Wednesday that they will set out to create a new digital solution that enables Hapag-Lloyd to effectively navigate the energy transition, reduce fuel spend, and cut cost to serve.Jan Christensen, Senior Director Global Fuel Purchasing, Hapag-Lloyd, said, “We have a clear strategic direction to advance decarbonization across our fleet and across our business.

Congestion at Singapore's container port is at its worst since the COVID-19 pandemic, a sign of how prolonged vessel re-routing to avoid Red Sea attacks has disrupted global ocean shipping - with bottlenecks also appearing in other Asian and European ports.Retailers, manufacturers and other industries that rely on massive box ships are again battling surging rates, port backups and shortages of empty containers, even as many consumer-oriented firms look to build inventories heading into the peak year-end shopping season.Global port congestion has reached an 18-month high…

ClassNK has granted approval to the basic design drawings of a multi-purpose container carrier developed by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) utilizing 3D models.This marks the world's first ocean-going ship to complete the basic design process, including class approval, solely through 3D drawings from the conceptual design to the basic structural design, during the initial stages of ship construction, according to NYK Line and ClassNK.Traditionally, the sharing of design information among shipyards…

The navies of Britain, Finland and Estonia were practising subsea infrastructure protection in the Baltic Sea region on Monday together with the Finnish Border Guard, Finland's Defence Forces said in a statement.In early October a gas pipeline linking Estonia and Finland was damaged along with three telecommunications cables in the area, which is known for its dense seabed infrastructure.Finland and Estonia suspect the gas pipeline and cable incidents are linked, and believe a Hong Kong-flagged container carrier caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

The Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, which was damaged last month, will get a bigger northbound transmission capacity next year following repairs, Finnish operator Gasgrid said in a statement on Wednesday.The increase will come from an enhancement of the Latvia-Lithuania interconnection, which allows for higher gas volumes to be transported around the Finnish-Baltic region, it added.The pipeline will in the future get a base capacity of 70.5 gigawatt hours of gas per day in the direction from Estonia to Finland…

A Russian fibre optic cable under the Baltic Sea was damaged last month only 28 km (17 miles) from where a gas pipeline linking Finland and Estonia was damaged soon afterwards, Russian state company Rostelecom said on Tuesday.Finnish police believe damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline was caused by a Chinese container ship dragging its anchor along the seabed but have not concluded whether this was an accident or a deliberate act.Security of sub-sea cables and pipelines in the Baltic has become a top concern against the background of the Ukraine war…

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Tuesday that China was cooperating in Finland's investigation of the Hong Kong-flagged NewNew Polar Bear vessel's role in the Oct. 8 damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.Finnish police leading the criminal investigation have named the NewNew Polar Bear container carrier as the prime suspect in damaging the gas pipeline early on Oct. 8, saying it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act.A large anchor, believed to belong to the NewNew Polar Bear…

The three incidents that resulted in damage to a gas pipeline and two telecom cables between Estonia, Finland and Sweden "are related", Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.Finnish police leading the pipeline investigation have named the Hong Kong-flagged container carrier NewNew Polar Bear as the prime suspect in damaging the Balticconnector Finland-Estonia gas pipeline early on Oct. 8.A large anchor was found near the pipeline, and the investigators believe the pipe was…